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WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, was once carjacked at gunpoint Monday evening near his Washington home, consistent with his leader of body of workers.
Three armed robbers stole the congressman’s automotive whilst he was once parking, Jacob Hochberg, Cuellar’s leader of body of workers, mentioned in a commentary. Cuellar was once unhurt within the incident, and legislation enforcement ultimately retrieved the auto.
“Thank you to Metro PD and Capitol Police for their swift action and for recovering the Congressman’s vehicle,” Hochberg mentioned.
U.S. Capitol Police are investigating the case with the assistance of town’s Metropolitan Police Department. Investigators are nonetheless running to trace down the suspects, consistent with the USCP spokesperson.
The incident took place within the Navy Yard group of Washington — a well-liked spot for congressional pied-a-terres this is simply blocks south of the Capitol.
Crime in Washington has grow to be a rising worry because the pandemic, with carjackings within the house expanding dramatically lately. While there have been simplest kind of 200 carjackings within the District and its inner-ring suburbs in 2018, there have been greater than 1,000 in 2022, consistent with a Washington Post analysis.
Growing crime has been a rallying level for conservative contributors of Congress, who challenged Washington’s home rule through blocking off a city-led revising of its legal code previous this yr. The proposal would have eradicated maximum minimal sentences and diminished most consequences for many crimes, together with carjacking.
Republicans and plenty of Democrats in Congress adversarial the revised legal code and used their infrequently touched veto energy on District affairs to kill the proposal, announcing it was once too cushy on crime. Cuellar voted towards enjoyable the consequences. President Joe Biden allowed the revised code to die.
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